Starting device for oil or gasolene engines for automobiles.



No. 68D,|03. `Pacented Aug. 6, |90I. .1. P. &. J. vN.. WRIGHT.v

STARTING DEVICE FOR DIL 0R GASOLENE ENGINES FOR AUTOMOBILES.

(Applicato'g. led May 9, 1900.) (No Model.) 2 Sheetsv-Sheet l,

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No. 680,|03. Patented Aug. 6, |901.

` .1. P. s. J. N. WRIGHT. STARTING DEVICE FOR OIL DNGAS'OLENE ENGINES FUR-AUTOMOBILES.

(Application led May 9, 1,900.) (No Model.) -Y 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

UNITED 'STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JACOB P. WRIGHT, OF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT, AND JAMES N. VVRIGIIT, y

f OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

STARTING DEVICE FOR OIL 0R GASOLENE ENGINES FOR AUTOMOBILES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 680,103, dated August 6, 1901.

Application filed May 9, 1900.

To @ZZ whom it may 'concern/.-

Be it known that we, JACOB P. WRIGHT, of New Haven, county of New Haven, Connectiout, and JAMES N. WRIGHT, of Newark, in the county of Essex, and in the State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Starting Devices for Oil or Gasolene Engines for Automobiles, &c.; and we do hereby declare .that the. following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in Which- Figure l is a side elevation of our starting mechanism, the cover of the casing being re-l moved. Fig. 2 is a vertical sectionalview of the same; and Fig. 3 is an elevation of our starting mechanism from ythe side opposite that shown in Fig. 1, the side of the casing being broken away.

The object of our invention has been to provide means for setting in motion an automobile driven by an explosive-engine, the engine and its igniting apparatus, the engine alone, or the igniting apparatus alone, so that a charge of explosive material may be drawn into the engine and compressed, if such action is necessary, and the igniting apparatus made to explode the charge, thus giving the engine momentum,l by which it can of itself perform the succeeding cycles of its operations; and to such end our invention consists in the starting mechanism hereinafter specified.

In carryingour invention into practice we provide a preferably cylindrical casing A, which is iixedly secured to the framework of the automobile or of the engine, said casing having a cover B. The cover is provided with a central opening B', in which bears a part C, consisting of a pinion C',l1aving,a cylindrical hub C2, on which is secured a clutch member C5, the portion of the hub between the pinion and clutch member forming a neck, which occupies the bearing in the cover. A shaft D passes yfreely through a bore in the hub C2, its axis being coincident with the axis of the casing. A second clutch member E is splined on the shaft D in position to engage the clutch member C3. A lever F engages the clutch memberthrough pins F', carried by said lever and extending into a Serial No. 16 ,104. (No model.)

groove E', formed in the clutch member E. A spring-clip F2 is secured to the casing and serves to hold the lever F in either of its two positions.

Within the casing is formed an internal gearG, which is geared to the pinion by an intermediate gear H, the latter being mounted on a stud I, which is carried by a disk K, having a bearing on the shaft. The periphery of the disk K is provided with ratchetteeth K', which are inclined in the direction in which the shaft revolves. A pawl K2 is pivoted between ears on the casing and projects through an opening in the casing and engages the ratchet-teeth. To the hub K3 of the disk is secured one end of a spiral spring L, the opposite end being attached to a disk M by means of a stud M. The disk M is provided with a hub M2, which passes centrally through a wal-l of the casing opposite to the opening B in the cover, the hub having secured thereto a clutch member M8 and having a central bore through which passes the shaft D. The opposite clutch member N is splined on the shaft D and has teeth which are inclinedin the direction in which said shaft rotates. The clutch member N has a circumferential groove N. The clutch member N is thrown into and out of engagement with the clutch member M2 by a lever O, which is pivoted between ears formed on the casing and which engages said clutch member by means of pins O and O', carried by a yoke O2, which spans the clutch member, the pins O' and O engaging the walls of a groove N', that is formed in the clutch memberrN. A split ring P is situated within an annular flange M4, which is formed on the disk M, the flange and split ring together forming a friction-clutch. The ends M5 and M5 of the split ring have oppositely-inclined surfaces, forming between them an outwardly-tapering recess, which is occupied by a wedge Q, the latter having ashank Q', at the inner end of which is a loop Q2, having parallel inner walls which engage the hub M2, and thereby guide the wedge. The wedge is moved into and out of engagement with the inclined vsurfaces on the end of the split ring by means of a bell-crank R, which is pivoted between ears formed on the casing. rlhe said lever has a slotted arm R', which engages a pin O3, formed onthe lever O, and an arm Rwhich extends through an opening in the casingand whose rounded end occupies a slot in the shank Q of the wedge Q. A spring-clip S is O to hold it in either of its two positions.

The shaft upon which our starter is placed may be the shaft of the automobile, in which case the vehicle, as well as the explosive-ou' gine and igniter, will be set injmotion by its action, or such shaft 'may be the shaft of the engine, in which case, if desired, the engine and igniter may be set in action by the starter without moving the vehicle, or our starter may be attached to the shaft of the magnetic igniter where such an igniter is used, and the engine being charged with compressed explosive the igniter alone may be set in m0- iion until its action explodes the charge in the engine and sets the latter in motion.

The operation of our mechanism is a follows: The lever O is operated to disengage the clutch member M3 and N and to expand the split ring within and clamp the annular iiange M4 to prevent its rotation. While the shaft D is in motion the lever F is moved to engage the clutch members C3 and E, which action causes the pinion C to revolve the intermediate gear H. Owing to the engagement of the gear H with the internal gear G the former is caused to slowly travel'in the direction of motion of the shaft, carrying with it the disk K. The spring L, having one end attached to the hub of disk K and having its outer end held stationary by the friction-clutch, is caused to wind up on the hub of the disk K, thus storing up the power of the shaft. When the spring is sufciently wound, the clutch members C3 and E are disengaged, aud the pawl L holds the disk K from backward lrotation and prevents the spring from unwinding.' When it is desired to cause the shaft `to revolve, the lever O is operated to disengage the wedge Q from the inclined ends of the split ring, thus releasing the friction-clutch, and to engage the clutch members M5 and N, thus connecting the disk M with the shaft. The spring being now wound up and having the end which is attached to the disk K held stationary and its tion to the shaft'from which itderived its m tion, we desire to have it understood that we can cause the spring to be wound by one shaft and to transmit the power thus derived to another shaft.

Having thus described-our invention, what 1. The combination ofa shaft, a cylindrical casing surrounding such shaft, a pinion loose on said shaft, means for clutching such pinion to said shaft, a disk loose on said shaft, means for preventing motion of said disk in one direction, agear carried by such disk and meshing with said pinion, aninternal gear on the casing with which meshes such first-men'- tioned gear, a spring attached at one end to said disk, a friction-disk loose on such shaft, onevend of said spring being attached to such friction-disk, a stationary friction member which is adapted to coact with said frictiondisk, and a clutchl by which such friction-disk can Vbe secured to saidshaft, substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. The combination of a shaft, a cylindrical casing surrounding such shaft, a pinion loose on the shaft, a clutch member'splined thereonand adapted to engage a clutch member formed on said pinion, a lever for operating such clutch, said lever beingmounted on the casing, ka ratchet-disk loose on the shaft, a pawl on the casing for holding the disk from rotating in one direction, a gear carried by the disk and meshing with the pinion, an internal gear on the casing, with which meshes such first-mentioned gear, a spring attached at oneend to the disk,.a friction=disk loose on said shaft, the opposite -end of the spring being attached to such friction-elisha stationary, split'friction-ring which is adapted to coact with vthe friction-disk, a wedge for expanding said frictionring, a clutch member formed on the .friction-disk, a clutch member splined on such shaft and adapted to engage with the clutch member yon the friction-disk,

` and a "lever fnlcrumed on the casing and i'adapted, when moved in vone direction, to

move the wedge, and when moved in theop-l posite direction toengage the last-mentioned clutch member, substantially as and for the purpose described. l

In testimony that we claim the foregoing we have hereunto set our hands, respectively, the

5th and 8th days of May, 1900. l t JACOB P. WRIGHT. JAMES N. WRIGHT. W'itnesses for Jacob P. Wright:

H. B. BROWN,

B. V. 'WRIGHr l/Vitnesses for Jas. N. Wright:`

H. L. WRIGHT,

C. CAMPBELL.

IOO

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